Losing Money While Gambling Makes You Feel Sick? 6 Ways To Get Over A Bad Gambling Problem
Science proves that gambling is plain fun – as long as you’re in control. There are no problems, research suggests, as long as you can set a limit to how much time and money you’re willing to spend. It’s just one of the several leisure activities you can do. Nothing more, nothing less. However, if you’ve lost money gambling and feel sick, what do you do?
And there comes the concept of responsible gambling. You won’t have an issue if you’re aware of your gaming habits and strive to see it as a game.
Gambling Problem: The Labels Gamblers Get Instead of Understanding
Many think gamblers have a deviant tendency, one that’s not morally right. This opinion is so widespread that gamblers themselves wholly buy into this.
It’s why many have to deal with guilt and low self-esteem when they gamble – because they feel they are committing a sin. All this leads to gamblers not reaching out for help, and the conversation around gambling not being judgment-free.
If you’re thinking ‘why do I gamble until I lose’, you aren’t alone. To move forward, you’ve to stop worrying about lost money at a casino.
Why Gamblers Keep Playing when Losses Devastate them
How to recover from a big gambling loss? Should you be chasing losses gambling?
If you cannot stop yourself from playing in a casino, you probably have to deal with some underlying issues. These exist even outside the ambit of gambling. For instance, even if you were not indulged in playing poker or slots, you may be dealing with a form of obsessive-compulsive disorder, which is also treated as a form of addiction.
Why does this happen? When a mundane behavior is being obsessively repeated, it is very easy to diagnose it as OCD. Addiction, on the other hand, needs a stimulant. Gambling, though, is a complex behavior and can give winners a high just like a stimulant. So, it is quite possible both these frameworks are not mutually exclusive.
Within larger frameworks, cultural tendencies and beliefs also play a role.
Now, there are people who lost everything gambling, and that’s happened because of a few simple reasons:
- Not Knowing the Rules can make them Want to Play More
If a gambler does not understand that each play is independent of the previous one, they may believe that playing a large enough number of games destines them to a minimum number of wins. Thus lack of awareness of the laws of statistics and probability can motivate a gambler to keep playing.
- Cost Fallacy and Human Mindset
There is also the phenomenon called the sunk cost fallacy, where people justify greater risk-taking because of the amount of cost already invested in an activity. This is due to the belief that ‘luck is bound to turn’. And so, exiting would lead to a clear and huge loss. It is problematic because this leads to exiting a game more difficult as more and more money is sunk into it.
- A Fragmented Society
Combine this with the tendency of societies not willing to discuss these issues, and you get a situation where novices cannot learn from the experience of the more weather-beaten gamblers.
- Not Choosing the Right Platform
Sometimes, you end up choosing the wrong platform to gamble on online. And when you keep losing money, you try to keep playing to win it back. Don’t do that. Instead, you may want to research to find the best betting sites out there before you start playing. Look for ones that enable you to play for free at first. That will help you know the game rules better and make you feel comfortable. All before you decide to start playing for real money.
How Gamblers Can Save Themselves
Given what we just talked about, gamblers may want to solve the problem in several steps.
- Deal with the Real Problems
Fight the urge to allow public perception to dominate your own emotional needs. It doesn’t matter if you think someone will judge you for accepting that you enjoy playing in a casino. You have to accept it because you are doing it anyway.
- Acceptance (The Answer on How to Cope with Gambling Loss)
Finding healing groups to discuss strategies to solve the problem can help. For example, if your problem is because of an OCD issue, you can take up a more constructive hobby like carpentry.
If it’s an addiction issue, there could be underlying mental health issues like depression. A conversation in the self-help group may lead you to a therapist who specializes in gaming addiction. You can also be prescribed mood stabilizers and anti-depressants.
How to Help a Gambler: Approaching a Person who Needs You Now and Hides that
If you suspect that a friend of yours has a problem, ask yourself – is your diagnosis coming from judgment? Are you judging your friends simply because you believe going to a casino is morally wrong? If so, you may not want to intervene.
Research reveals that there is nothing wrong with the act of gambling itself.
Betting, for instance, has been an accepted practice in many sports like horse racing. In fact, gamblers and their afflictions have served as a positive force in human history. They are the motivating factor for the discovery of the mathematical fields of probability and statistics.
Today, you can find plenty of different games for you to play online. Some top rankings are quite comprehensive and you shouldn’t have to worry about trying them out.
You also need to realize that helping someone out of judgment is only helping you. This is because you are motivated by something that troubles you. It’s also counterproductive. In the future, if your friend does develop a problem, they will not talk to you.
Offer a Judgment-Free Environment
Look to provide a sincere and firm judgment-free environment. Sure, you may have to convince a gambler that they have a problem. However, your arguments should be based on objective externalities.
Maybe your friend is always in debt. Maybe your friend is always emotionally stressed. Maybe they are not paying enough attention to their dependents like their children.
Offer Emotional Support
Simultaneously, you need to also be ready to support your friend through the emotional upheaval they will go through as they accept the losses.
- Maybe they will start pushing their friends away.
- They can inflict self-harm as a form of justice.
- They can also start drinking to deal with the emotional turmoil of feeling like a failure.
Clearly, wanting to help a gambler needs a lot of planning. It’s not something to be done lightly, but you don’t have to do it yourself. You can talk to a therapist on their behalf. You can also form a friend circle to make them feel more accepted.
Top 6 Practices to Overcome the Excessive Gambling Challenge
If you enjoy risk-taking and are looking for a game to satisfy your urges, or if you are a recovering gambler who is looking to ramp down, this section is for you.
- Look to reduce financial losses by playing without money.
If you play without money, you’ve nothing to lose. Take a look at the practice game. Check out the game rules. You can play any casino game you like, from slots to poker to blackjack for free. Many casino games aren’t just about luck. Instead, you will need to know the game rules to have a chance to win.
- Play with trustworthy people.
Introduce your family or responsible close friends to the activity too so that they can act as your guard rails by exerting good peer pressure. So, if they see you’re losing money or going over a budget, they can stop you from playing more. Playing with the right people does make a difference when it comes to playing your favorite games.
- Play in small amounts.
That way you can enjoy the game and the risk and at the same time reduce the actual cost. Additionally, you won’t end up going over your budget soon. Sure, the wins may not be as high, but you can end up playing for a longer time. And when you’re comfortable with the game you’re playing, you can up your odds.
- Maintain a schedule.
Decide that you will not play beyond a predefined amount of time. The discipline you develop over time acts as guard rails and prevents you from committing excesses. Regular gym goers use this method to go to the gym when their motivation is low. You can go to the casino once a month – and have a budget set out that you shouldn’t exceed.
- Explore other pleasurable activities.
Learn to cook. Ask your friends to include you in some adrenaline-heavy sports they may be playing like mountain biking. There are tons of other things to do apart from playing in a casino. If you’re only looking to play at a casino at the expense of other activities, and overspend each time, you may have a problem.
- Always be honest with yourself.
Keep the promises you make to yourself. This is the cheapest yet most important solution, and you will discover that it has positive effects on all other aspects of your personality. Identify the signs of casino addiction, and if you’ve lost money, take some time out.
FAQ
What do you need to know if you’ve lost money when trying to gamble? Well, losing money at a casino isn’t the end of the road. However, if you’ve lost everything gambling, it sure isn’t a great feeling. So, what you need to do is know how to get over a loss. Here are a few questions you may have, and what you can do about them.
If the amount of money you are losing at a casino is more than your budget, you need to stop. The other sign something is wrong? Stress. Playing in a casino is supposed to bring you pleasure and is a leisure activity.
You either have an OCD or a tendency for addiction. You are also falling prey to cognitive illusions like sunk cost fallacy.
That does not matter. What matters is the toll playing in a casino is having on you. If you think you can’t gamble responsibly, you may want to stop. It takes time for you to learn a game.
So, if you don’t know the slot game rules you’re playing, you may want to read that first. Not all slots are the same, for instance, and feature different Return-to-Player ratios. It’s a good idea to play a game for free first before playing for actual money. And if you are still spending more than your budget, take some time away.
If you’re gambling away thousands and losing money at a casino, take a look at the basics. Realizing you have a problem is a good place to start. If you’ve lost money gambling and feel sick, take some time out. Even if the answer to ‘is gambling bad’ is no, you don’t want to give in to your addiction.
Losing Money at Casino?
Is gambling bad? Not really. Well, as long as you can gamble responsibly it’s just a way to have some fun.
Lost money gambling feels sick? Don’t let societal stigma get you. If you have lost everything gambling, it is time to seek professional help in the form of therapy. Recognize the signs of gambling addiction and learn how to forget about any losses.